"Is Cat Videos More Important Than Eradicating Digital Sex Crimes?" Democratic Party Directly Criticizes Yoon

Yoon: "While insufficient to prevent a second n-bang crime, it instills 'fear of censorship' in the vast majority of innocent citizens"

Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, is speaking at the launch ceremony of the Gangwon Province Election Countermeasures Committee held at the Gangwon Province Party Headquarters in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on the afternoon of the 11th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim So-young] The Democratic Party of Korea sharply criticized Yoon Seok-yeol, the presidential candidate of the People Power Party, who described the re-amendment of the 'Nth Room Prevention Act' (amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act and the Information and Communications Network Act) as "insufficient to prevent a second Nth Room crime, while instilling a 'fear of censorship' in the vast majority of law-abiding citizens."

On the 13th, Yoon wrote on his Facebook, "There was even a report in an online community that 'cat videos' were caught in censorship and could not be shared," expressing his concerns.

He added, "Of course, heinous crimes such as the distribution of illegal recordings and digital sex crimes must be completely blocked and punished severely. However, if cute cat videos and videos of beloved family members also become targets of censorship, how can such a country be called a land of freedom? I will prepare measures that both block crimes and prevent violations of communication privacy."

In response, voices of criticism emerged from the Democratic Party. Kim Tae-nyeon, co-chief of the Democratic Party's election campaign headquarters, wrote on his Facebook the same day, "Candidate Yoon Seok-yeol and the People Power Party have criticized the Nth Room Prevention Act by framing it as prior censorship," pointing out, "Absurd opinions such as censoring chat rooms or calling it the beginning of a dictatorship are being raised ahead of the presidential election."

He clarified, "The Nth Room Prevention Act is a system that filters by comparing specific information of illegal recordings in the database and shared videos. Internet service providers do not check videos one by one to determine if they are illegal recordings. Also, one-on-one chat rooms are not subject to this law from the start."

Democratic Party lawmaker Hong Young-pyo also raised his voice on his Facebook, asking, "Are cat videos more important than eradicating digital sex crimes?" He warned, "Candidate Yoon's vulgar perception will turn our society into a country not of freedom but one consumed by the dark web."

Hong said, "The distorted claim that the Nth Room Prevention Act is a censorship law downplays the seriousness of digital sex crimes and only pours cold water on the gradually improving social awareness. The state's role is to stop all acts that lure children into sexual exploitation at all costs." He continued, "The Nth Room Prevention Act is the starting point to eradicate increasingly sophisticated digital sex crimes. It is not about spying on civilians," emphasizing this point.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kwon In-sook also stated on her Facebook, "The Nth Room Prevention Act mandates filtering measures by business operators to prevent illegal sexual exploitation recordings registered with government agencies from being posted in spaces accessible to the general public." She strongly condemned Candidate Yoon and Representative Lee Jun-seok, saying, "They have failed to propose any alternatives to stop the distribution of illegal sexual exploitation recordings and are promoting conflict politics by undermining the hard-won filtering system."

Hyun Geun-taek, spokesperson for the Democratic Party's election campaign headquarters, pointed out that among the 170 lawmakers who supported the passage of the Nth Room Prevention Act in the plenary session last May, 50 were from the United Future Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party). He questioned, "Is it right for the presidential candidate and party leader to say they have nothing to do with it just because they are not lawmakers?"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.